crowdsourcing: how to find a crowd (presented at ard/zdf academy in germany)

HENK VAN ESS (C) 2010

Success Criteria and Strategies for Crowdsourcing

Harvesting knowledge

Henk van Ess

zaterdag 18 september 2010


exploiting nice people



Tell us your brilliant idea



Tell us your brilliant idea

....here’s some money, now gow away!



Thanks to you we have 8,1 billion!



We’re NOT an example of crowdsourcing

Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia



If not Wikipedia, who is the biggest ‘crowdsourcer’?

Question:



is channelling experts



channelling experts

www.ekkel.nlI spotted frozen water!


http://www.ekkel.nl

http://www.ekkel.nl


channelling experts

www.snowmageddoncleanup.comI like to be rescued


http://www.ekkel.nl

http://www.ekkel.nl


channelling experts

www.landroof.nlI know who ruins naturezaterdag 18 september 2010

http://www.ekkel.nl

http://www.ekkel.nl


crowdsourcing to me is also

channelling the experts’eagerness to solve the problem



desire to help

http://www.takepart.com/news/tag/haiti-crowdsourcing-project


http://www.ekkel.nl

http://www.ekkel.nl


desire to help

www.vark.com


http://www.ekkel.nl

http://www.ekkel.nl


crowdsourcing

channelling the experts’desire to

solve the problem for free



doing it for free

mps-expenses.guardian.co.ukI want to check bills


http://www.ekkel.nl

http://www.ekkel.nl


doing it for free

I want to read 647 pages

huffingtonpost.com



doing it for free

http://www.texasborderwatch.com/vcw.php

I want to spot crime





so crowdsourcing is

channelling the experts’desire to solve

a problem and thenfreely share the answer

with everyone



why I’m here today

CEO Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn (ex-Yahoo)

‘There is that guy out in the Netherlands ... who created a company’

... via crowdsourcing



CNBC, May 2010



how? CNBC, May 2010



how to create a crowd

Let’s assume you want to makea site about

unhappy employees



how to create a crowd

Don’t start a site “I hate my work” .. yet.



• Create mass first = content




• Be a reporter first. Check your archives (trials, strikes, reports). Check fora. Do field research, f.e. ask labor unions for suspects, find firms with more sick people then average




• Be a reporter first. Check your archives (trials, strikes, reports). Check fora. Do field research, f.e. ask labor unions for suspects, find firms with more sick people then average

• By now, you should have a short list of firms. Now find the people & contact them.



Text

scrutinize social networksand invite the experts



Ask first, don’t publish yet




• Ask about 50 people to tell you what makes them unhappy at work and why.




• Ask about 50 people to tell you what makes them unhappy at work and why.

• Document their stories with photo’s, film, diaries - whatever is relevant.



meanwhile: build a platform

don’t use your current infrastructure!

Text



Nerd Alert!



• My favorite setup: Hetzner dedicated server, Direct Admin, Installatron

Nerd Alert!




• Choose your platform: f.e Django, Amazon EC2, Ruby on Rails

Nerd Alert!





• Be prepared to scale your servers (get more dedicated servers, each new one should cost you 70 euro per month)

Nerd Alert!






• Make it fun & worthwhile. Include polls, ratings, reviews - be interactive and entertaining.

Nerd Alert!







• Incorporate social media (Daily ‘I hate my work’, )

Nerd Alert!








• Built in a system to double check entries, to validate information.

Nerd Alert!








• Built in a system to double check entries, to validate information.

• Don’t run out of steam: introduce new features on a regular basis

Nerd Alert!



No budget? Crowdsource it!

Happy me at www.hackdeoverheid.nl : 50 coders thought up some great applications (open data & government) in one afternoon


http://www.hackdeoverheid.nl

http://www.hackdeoverheid.nl


Launch your site without fanfare




• Let the 50 experts do the work





• Be patient, let it grow first for a few months






• If it doesn’t grow, find new experts






• If it doesn’t grow, find new experts

• Introduce new features all the time



LAUNCH BIG

after a 6-8 months



The Google Experiment:indirect crowdsourcing



Google



Google

• Your search query tells Google who you are and what you want



Google


• Google aggregates all those “you’s”



Google



• That are billions of you’s



Google



• That are billions of you’s

• Google is the biggest crowdsourcer in the world



What do you want today?




• Experiment for NDP (Dutch Press Association)




• Experiment for NDP (Dutch Press Association)

• What is the most important subject for people in The Netherlands on a given day, i.e July 2, 2009?



We used Google Insight



Topic of the day (July 2, 2009):



Most searched terms

michael jackson nieuws



Be fast

We made a site in 2 hrswith those search terms

in the domain name



Use your own content

We used all ‘Michael Jackson’ articlesfrom one paper

and didn’t alter the content+ reply possibility

+ forum+ best links to other sites



• 20.000 visitors in 24 hrs



• 20.000 visitors in 24 hrs

• Ad income: 60 euro a day



Crowdsourcing Google




• 100 niches sites * 60 euro = 6000 euro a day




• 100 niches sites * 60 euro = 6000 euro a day

• 365 * 6 000 = 2 .190. 000 euro



My other little experiment:



Longtail to the extreme




• Make a website about something you love





• But: no one else must like it, otherwise have a new idea





• But: no one else must like it, otherwise have a new idea

• We asked Chris Anderson if we were niche enough



Scoring high, because it’s niche



Dinner-act:



few visitorsbut all highly interested

in the topic & ads



Strategies for crowdsourcing



what to crowdsource?




• any problem that bugs people





• things that make feel people good about themselves





• things that make feel people good about themselves

• niche knowledge of proud experts



proven themes



• weather (problems & fun)

proven themes




• politicians (Guardian, Huffington Post

proven themes





• epic tasks (Haiti, Galaxy Zoo)

proven themes






• injustice (Border Cam, Landroof)

proven themes






• injustice (Border Cam, Landroof)

• .....

proven themes



be transparent



be transparent

• tell people you don’t know it all



be transparent


• ask for help and explain why



be transparent



• be honest, even about your mistakes



be transparent



• be honest, even about your mistakes

• be yourself: do what you normally do



Give first:



Give first:

• Build the house



Give first:

• Build the house

• Give away the key



Give first:

• Build the house

• Give away the key

• New owner: the crowd



Take later...



Take later...

• Trust your audience (eww..!)



Take later...


• Let them kill the trolls



Take later...



• Use the material for your broadcasts



Take later...



• Use the material for your broadcasts

• Give the experts full credits



Important

Harvesting knowledgehas possibly no deadline



my formula for crowd sourcing



10. Give




10. Give

20. Take




10. Give

20. Take

30. Goto 10




Part of this presentation was crowdsourced



How to contact me

• www.linkedin.com/in/searchbistro

• @henkvaness (Twitter)

• [email protected] (mail)


http://www.linkedin.com/in/searchbistro

http://www.linkedin.com/in/searchbistro

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Nov 2010

http://www.amazon.de/Google-Code-Das-Geheimnis-besten-Suchergebnisse/dp/382733036X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284813917&sr=8-1




crowdsourcing: how to find a crowd (presented at ard/zdf academy in germany)

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